Global InformationTrader post scandal information
The trader post scandal, or Indian Ring, took place during Reconstruction and involved Secretary of War William W. Belknap and his wives receiving kickback payments from a Fort Sill tradership contract.
In 1870, Belknap was granted the sole power to appoint and license sutlers with ownership rights to highly lucrative "traderships" at U.S. military forts on the Western frontier.[1][2] Belknap appointed a New York contractor (Caleb P. Marsh) to the trader post at Fort Sill which was already held by John S. Evans.[3] An illicit partnership contract authorized by Belknap was drawn up which allowed Evans to keep the tradership at Fort Sill provided that he make payments to Marsh, who in turn split those payments with Belknap's wife.
In 1876, a Congressional investigation discovered that profits from the Fort Sill tradership were split among Belknap, Marsh, Evans, and two of Belknap's wives, Carita and Amanda. On March 2, 1876, Belknap tendered his resignation as Secretary of War to President Ulysses S. Grant. Despite the resignation, the House of Representatives voted unanimously for Belknap's impeachment and forwarded the articles of impeachment to the Senate. In May 1876, after lengthy debate, the Senate voted that Belknap, a private citizen, could be put on trial by the Senate. Belknap was acquitted when the vote for conviction failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority. Most of the senators who voted against conviction expressed the belief that the Senate had overstepped its authority in attempting to convict a private citizen.
The Congressional investigation created a rift between Grant and Col. George A. Custer. During the investigation, Custer testified on hearsay evidence that President Grant's brother, Orvil, was involved in the trader post rings. This infuriated President Grant who then stripped Custer of his command in the campaign against the Dakota Sioux. Although Custer was later permitted to participate in the campaign against the Dakota Sioux, Custer's reputation had been damaged. While attempting to restore his military prestige in the U.S. Army, Custer was killed in action at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Belknap had allowed the sale of superior military weapons to hostile Native Americans at trader posts, while having supplied soldiers in the U.S. Army defective military weapons. This upset the balance of firepower between Indians and U.S. soldiers, and may have contributed to the defeat of the U.S. military at the Battle of Little Bighorn.
- ^ Koster (2010), p. 59
- ^ Forty First Congress, Statutes At Large, pp. 319–320
- ^ McFeely (1974), p. 58